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Dr. Nick Attree

@nickattree.bsky.social

1.3K followers 620 following 670 posts

Planetary scientist @iaacsic.bsky.social, working on @esa.int's Rosetta & @cometinterceptor.bsky.social. Prev @TUBraunschweig, @LAM, @QMUL & @UoLeicester 🇬🇧🇪🇸🇪🇺 https://sites.google.com/view/nickattree ORCID: 0000-0003-3344-6693

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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.bsky.social · Jul 3

In other #PlanetSci news, my latest paper on modelling ☄️ #comet #67P's activity is now online #OpenAccess in Monthly Notices of the @royalastrosoc.bsky.social.
We found sublimating ices can overcome the weak material strength and eject particles, roughly matching...
academic.oup.com/mnras/advanc...

Constraints on the ejecting-crust activity model on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Abstract. Reproducing the observed activity of comets with thermophysical models remains a primary challenge of cometary science. We use a pebble-based the

academic.oup.com

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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.bsky.social · 2h

Congrats, Raphael! And good luck!

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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.bsky.social · 6h

for a body centred frame for an object with an existing NAIF identifier and fixed rotation constants it's actually incredibly simple!

Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.bsky.social · 7h

successfully created my own reference frame definition in #SPICE! Huzzah! #methods
(SPICE is the NASA ephermerides system for computing the positions and orientations of solar system bodies. I basically can now make up local body coordinates of an arbitrary body, but it's a start 🙂)

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Reposted by Dr. Nick Attree

Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.bsky.social · 1d

See that small, moving splotch?

That's 3I/ATLAS, a comet that formed in a different star system, photographed from Mars orbit by the ESA Exomars Trace Gas Orbiter.

A comet from a DIFFERENT SOLAR SYSTEM photographed by a ROBOT ORBITING MARS

last Friday

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Reposted by Dr. Nick Attree

Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 1d

Interstellar comet #3I/ATLAS imaged by the CaSSIS camera in orbit around Mars lead out of @unibe.ch 🤩
Simply amazing that we can take such observations from the orbit of other planets 😱
#planetSci

ESA Space Science @science.esa.int · 1d

First images of comet #3I/ATLAS from Europe's Mars orbiters 😍

Observing the comet from 30 million km away, #ExoMars reveals the halo of gas and dust surrounding the comet's nucleus.

Read more 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
🔭🧪

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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.bsky.social · 1d

Thanks :)

Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.bsky.social · 1d

Ah the annual anniversary of the attack on Weathertop yesterday (also my birthday 😛)

The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 1d

The five Nazgûl advance slowly on the camp. Their terror compels Frodo to put on the Ring—making him suddenly visible to them. Even as he calls upon Elbereth, a Nazgûl rushes forward and stabs him in the shoulder with a Morgul-knife. He removes the Ring and collapses.

Reposted by Dr. Nick Attree

Daniel Pomarède @pomarede.bsky.social · 2d

#APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day

The Changing Ion Tail of Comet Lemmon

Credit: Victor Sabet & Julien De Winter
www.star.ucl.ac.uk/~apod/apod/a... 🧪🔭

Five shots side-by-side capturing Comet Lemmon at different times, illustrating how a comet tail might change. The ion tail of Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) has been changing markedly, as detailed in the featured image sequenced over five days between September 25 and October 3 (left to right) from Texas, USA. On some days, the comet's ion tail was relatively more complex than other days. Reasons for tail changes include the rate of ejection of material from the comet's nucleus, the strength and complexity of the passing solar wind, and the rotation rate of the comet. Sometimes, over the course of a week, apparent differences even result from a change of perspective from the Earth. In general, a comet's ion tail will point away from the Sun, as gas expelled is pushed out by the Sun's wind. Comet Lemmon is still inbound and brightening, passing nearest the Earth on October 21 and nearest the Sun on November 8.

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Reposted by Dr. Nick Attree

Simeon Schmauß @stim3on.bsky.social · 4d

Last night, NASA's Perseverance rover looked up at the night sky once more, to capture interstellar #comet 3I/Atlas flying by the red planet.

The distance was "only" 0.2 AU or 30 Mio km, far closer than the comet ever got to Earth. 🔭 #3IAtlas

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/Simeon Schmauß

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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.bsky.social · 5d

Fantastic! Great work

Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.bsky.social · 5d

Possible #comet 3I/Atlas detection from Perseverance rover on the surface of #Mars! ☄️🔭🔴

Simeon Schmauß @stim3on.bsky.social · 5d

I think Perseverance may have spotted interstellar comet 3I/Atlas last night from Mars!

After stacking 20 images from Mastcam-Z, I found a faint smudge of light in the constellation Corona Borealis close to the location where the comet was expected. 🔭

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/Simeon Schmauß

image of the night sky showing a starfield with several dark and bright stars that are quite elongated due to the long exposure time.

the stars of the constellation corona borealis are annotated in green. a faint smudge, perhaps comet 3I/Atlas is marked with a red circle.

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Reposted by Dr. Nick Attree

Dr. Victoria Grinberg @vicgrinberg.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 7d

When an interstellar object passes close by, all eyes are on it!

#esa is making its solar system mission look at the #comet 3I/ATLAS: first #exomars TGO and #marsexpress when the comet passes close to Mars and then the #juice, currently on its way to […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]

Infographic showing the path of comet 3I/ATLAS, the third known interstellar object to enter our Solar System. It displays the orbits of Earth, Mars and the Juice spacecraft around the Sun, along with key dates and events as comet 3I/ATLAS travels through the inner Solar System in 2025. Coloured and numbered dots mark important observation points by telescopes and spacecraft.

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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.bsky.social · 7d

Oooo 🤩

Daniel Machacek @danielmachacek.bsky.social · 7d

My new color photographic map of Pluto is now online.

Full resolution image version (~322Mpix) is available on Flickr www.flickr.com/photos/10958...
PDF version (~73MB) is available here: drive.google.com/file/d/1EW-x...

🧵 1/5

Small preview of color photographic map of Pluto in Mollweide oblique projection. It contains one large global map with four small hemispheric maps and basic description. Full version of this map is available for download in links in the main post.
Credit: NASA/JHU-APL/SwRI/Marc W. Buie/ESA/Daniel Machacek.

Reposted by Dr. Nick Attree

The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 8d

‘All that is gold does not glitter
Not all those who wander are lost
The old that is strong does not wither
Deep roots are not reached by the frost…’

Strider knows the rhyme from Gandalf’s letter!

‘I am Aragorn son of Arathorn and if by life or death I can save you, I will.’

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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.bsky.social · 8d

Great! I will take a look at the paper

Reposted by Dr. Nick Attree

Hourly Cosmos @hourlycosmos.bsky.social · 8d

Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko - 30 September 2016 - From Thomas Appéré (thomasappere.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/MyKVAS

Picture taken by OSIRIS camera aboard Rosetta spacecraft from an altitude of 16 km during the spacecraft’s final descent on 30 September 2016. The resolution is 30 cm/pixel and the image measures about 650 m across.
Credits: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA/Thomas Appéré
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Photo acquise par la caméra OSIRIS à bord de la sonde Rosetta depuis une altitude de 16 km lors de la descente finale de la sonde sur la comète le 30 septembre 2016. La résolution est de 30 cm/pixel et l'image fait environ 650 m de large.
Crédits: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA/Thomas Appéré

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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.bsky.social · 8d

Can you use this to put constraints on the fragmentation velocity, and by extension the dust strength, and then compare to e.g. estimated cometary dust particle strengths? I guess I should go read the paper 😅

Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.bsky.social · 9d

This was already great, and then the addition of the ominous green blob of "All Living Plant Biomass" made it so much better!

p.s @p-s-v.bsky.social · 9d

Cosmic comparison: Objects the size of cities

Source, Martin Vargic
www.halcyonmaps.com#/copy-of-a-c...

A curious size comparison of various comets, asteroids and small moons with London and Manhattan, including far more other miscellaneous things, such as the volume global fossil fuel reserves, bacteria, plant biomass, or ejecta from some of the most devastating volcanic eruptions.

Reposted by Dr. Nick Attree

Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC) @iaacsic.bsky.social · 12d

Un año más en la #NIGHTSpain con nuestra carpa de actividades, nuestra mesa de realidad virtual y nuestra mesa de merchandising ✨✨

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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.bsky.social · 12d

I just wrote a comment in my code 'construct depth loop here' and then read it back to myself as 'construct death loop here'.... I think it may be time to stop work for the week!

Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.bsky.social · 12d

phew, what week!
Said goodbye to my visitor who's been here since after EPSC, and submitted a big application.
Now things will quieten down, right? Ah no, just the JWST deadline, Comet Interceptor SWT and CoCa meeting coming up, and supervising an internship project!

Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.bsky.social · 13d

First the sperm whale eating a giant squid, and now this. Undersea videos really killing it today!

Jean-François Cudennec @jfcudennec.bsky.social · 14d

major traffic incident

Reposted by Dr. Nick Attree

Dr. Katy Croff Bell @katycroffbell.bsky.social · 13d

SPERM WHALE EATING A GIANT SQUID--filmed probably for the first time *ever*!!! 🌊🦑🐳

Rebecca R Helm @rebeccarhelm.bsky.social · 13d

I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA

10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)

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Reposted by Dr. Nick Attree

ESA Space Science @science.esa.int · 14d

All eyes on comet #3I/ATLAS ☄️

Hubble & Webb have already observed this comet coming from outside our Solar System.

Next up, our Mars Express, ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and Juice missions will turn their eyes towards it.

Learn more 👉 esa.int/3IATLAS 🔭🧪

At the center of the image is a comet that appears as a teardrop-shaped bluish cocoon of dust coming off the comet’s solid, icy nucleus and seen against a black background. The comet appears to be heading to the bottom left corner of the image. About a dozen short, light blue diagonal streaks are seen scattered across the image, which are from background stars that appeared to move during the exposure because the telescope was tracking the moving comet.

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Reposted by Dr. Nick Attree

Small Robots @smolrobots.bsky.social · 15d

Pot lucks. Cable TV. Softball. Jaywalking. College fraternities and sororities. Hall monitors.

A baffling country.

Tom Worsley @tomworsley1984.bsky.social · 15d

Tylenol was always one of those American things you didn't know what it was. Like Twinkies and Pottery Barn and Ted Koppel and whatever the hell a caucus is.

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